


Walk A Mile In My Doodled Shoes...

by Bluefire510



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Awkward situations, Caleb!Nick Is Here Too, Emotional Connection, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Julie Consents to Posession, Mind Reading, Possession, Possession Descriptions That Could Closely Align with Dissociation, The Boys Being Respectful But Weird, The Boys Get to Be Alive for A Little Bit, The Boys Get to Pretend to Be Julie lol, shared thoughts, wacky scenarios
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:02:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29195757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluefire510/pseuds/Bluefire510
Summary: "I want to help, Julie… but only if you let me,”She nodded. She was ready this time.The bassist wore a tentative smile, to keep her at ease during this extremely personal process.“Reggie to the rescue!”Then he came charging at her with great speed, his form colliding into hers, and for a split second, Julie felt nothing. Then everything. And then nothing again.The next time she blinked open her eyes, she realized that was all she could do- watch. Watch as her hands move of their own accord...Or were they?_____________The one where the boys use their newfound possession abilities to help Julie out of jams.
Relationships: Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 58
Kudos: 221





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey it has come to my attention that the descriptions for the possession may closely resemble sensations related to dissociation, sleep paralysis, or similar conditions. 
> 
> Just wanted to let you know, in case any of these descriptions end up being triggering. 
> 
> And also note, that Julie's experiences with possession is purely consensual. Even in the first instance mentioned, where it had been an accident, Julie is aware and is powerful enough to expel them if she no longer wants to be possessed. 
> 
> If there are any other concerns please bring them up with me. Thank you.

The first time it happened, it had been purely by accident. 

Julie had been in the kitchen at around 10 at night, just finally taking a well deserved reprieve from her AP World homework.

But hey, the torture was self-inflicted. She could have chosen regular World, but instead she had to listen to her tía and signed up for something challenging. 

Helping herself to a tub of rainbow sherbet ice cream, all thoughts of Ancient China and the Boxer Rebellion had begun to melt away, the dollop of airy sweetness dissolving on her tongue, when the boys decided to drop in. 

She had regarded them quietly, asking them about what they had been up to while she had been holed up in her room, but such catching up never came to fruition. 

Because all of the boys had been staring forlornly at her bowl. 

She had mentally slapped herself for how rude this must be. To eat in front of them, knowing that none of them could join her in consuming this tasty treat. 

Julie had tried to slide the bowl out of view, maybe go tuck it in the freezer for a later time, but- 

Reggie sighed. 

Luke licked his lips (which he had no right to do that by the way).

And Alex- 

Alex had been the worst. His knee-jerk reaction had been to reach for the bowl, eyes wide and frenzied with something. 

“Dude…” Reggie had reprimanded, “Dairy.” 

Alex had sighed, fingers dancing over to the bowl, “I know, I know, but…” 

“You can’t even eat it anyway,” 

Julie had looked to them for a little guidance. Leaning over Luke had to fill her in, “He loves ice cream. It’s his comfort food. Even though-” 

“It causes extreme discomfort afterwards,” The drummer had smiled weakly. 

Sporting a sad grimace, Julie would rather not torture her friend any more. So she had picked up the bowl and went to stick it in the freezer. 

Alex had never moved so fast in all the time that Julie had known him, and suddenly he was in front of her, blocking her path. 

“You can eat it, Julie. You don’t have to put it away,”

“I’ll just get it later. No big deal,” she had side stepped, but the ghost followed in suit. 

“I feel bad. If one of us gets to enjoy that,” his eyes had flickered to the two scoops, “ _delicious_ ice cream. Then I don’t wanna get in your way.” 

“You’re in my way now,” she had scoffed, growing a bit annoyed. She really couldn’t stay, she needed to go back upstairs. 

And normally, she would have bulldozed her way through this vapor of a person, but ever since the night of the Orpheum show, the boys were now physical to her. 

“Look, I’m just gonna-” she had then hurried around Alex, spinning so to nimbly evade the tall ghost, clutching the bowl close to her chest, spoon in her other hand. 

“Come on, Julie,” And she had heard Alex pivot and tried to pull her back, refusing to let her get close to the freezer, but he had miscalculated the distance between them, and he had ended up placing a hand on her shoulder before-

Colliding into her. Passing through. 

But this hadn’t been like the other times. 

Instead of a passing through cleanly on the other side, Alex _dissolved_ into her. 

_“Alex!”_

_“Julie!”_

She could hear the boys cry out, but she couldn’t respond, her whole body shuddering from this foreign sensation. And it was foreign. There was something inside that shouldn’t be there and her system was doing its best to force it out. 

“Where’s Alex? Where- where did he-?” Reggie had been frantically searching the immediate area, while Luke kept a steady hand on her back.

“Julie, are you okay?” 

Then her eyes had closed. 

But when she had opened them again, she heard herself say: 

_“Julie?”_

Her body had righted itself, and Julie…she didn’t even do anything. She didn’t move her limbs, yet she could feel herself walking to the counter, wobbly steps, her hand rubbing at her temple. 

A deep panic had settled inside her. 

Then she had realized… it wasn’t panic. 

“Guys?” her voice said again, and she could see Reggie and Luke staring at her, eyes widening, “What are you looking at? Where’s Julie?” 

“Where’s-? _You’re_ Julie!” Luke had spluttered out, confused. 

_Oh no._ she had thought to herself. Her mind, the one place, that she could still feel was hers, when everything else… wasn’t. 

And another internal voice had responded. 

_-Wait. Julie?!_

_-Alex?_

She could feel her eyebrows shooting up when it had finally hit. 

_“Holy shit!”_ her external voice had screamed, dropping the bowl of ice cream, shattering on the floor, earning surprised gasps from the boys. 

Her body had made rapid circles, head angled down to inspect her pajamas, her skin, her free hand feeling her face, her hair. 

_-Alex, please. Calm down._

_-Calm down? CALM DOWN?! I’M IN YOUR BODY?! How am I- How am I even talking to you?_

_-Alex!_ She had tried again, _The guys!_

_-Right!_

But no need to explain. Reggie had caught on exactly what happened. 

_“You’re- you’re possessing her?!”_

Luke’s hands had clutched at his hair, _“What?!”_

Now the two boys had flanked her sides, fretting over her- er well Alex too. Fretting over them. 

“Can we even do that?” 

“Julie! Are you in there?” Luke had waved a hand in front of her eyes. 

_YES!_

“She is” Alex answered for her, and in her voice no doubt, quivering more than it would have normally, “She is, and I-I don’t know how but she’s talking to me. In my head- in her head. Oh my god! How do I get out?” 

Her chest had risen and sunk in an erratic pattern- Alex was not handling this well. At all. 

The boys had coached them in regulating his- er her- _their_ breathing. 

“There, okay. You got this, man- uh,” Reggie had winced, “Jules?” 

“Look, are you both okay?” 

After the initial panic had subsided, Julie had time to really focus on what was happening. She was there. She was definitely in her body, but she was not at the forefront, captaining it… 

But other than that. She had been relatively fine. Nothing hurt. Just felt… weird. 

_Are you good, Alex?_

“I’m fine?” he had responded aloud, to both her and Luke, “I can hear her. I can feel her. I can- I can feel everything really. I’m,” her body shivered, “I’m cold.” 

_-You don’t feel cold as ghosts?_

_-We don’t feel anything. This is freaking me out!_

“Cold?” Reggie had hummed, “Well yeah, you were just holding ice cream not too long ago…” 

_-Hold on_

If Alex and Julie could share a look with each other they would. 

_-Ice cream..._

Her head turned, zeroing in on the spoon she had in her hand, a small scoop of ice cream nestled on top of it. 

_-You’re not lactose intolerant...are you?_

Julie had, in this period of madness, giggled, knowing what he was itching to do, and Alex was surprised to hear that come through too. In the chamber that was her mind. 

She didn't have to answer. Alex already knew, but this was his way of asking, something he didn't have the chance to do before... this. 

_-Go for it._

And without a second thought, the spoon was in her mouth, lapping up the ice cream, finally tasting it. She could hear Alex practically moan into the spoon, and she caught Luke turning a bright shade of scarlet at the noise. 

Trying hard not to focus on _that_ , Julie had found out that she too could taste it too, and she didn’t have to imagine how ecstatic he was. 

She could feel him too. His emotions, his thoughts, the happy memories associated with ice cream surfacing- it was like his whole life flashing before her mind… 

“I can eat!” he had laughed her laugh. 

Luke had gaped at them, “No way.”

“Yes way!” 

“Julie? Are you down there?” Her dad had heard the noise and was coming down the stairs. 

_-Uh oh._ She had heard Alex internally. 

No, this couldn’t happen. Her dad could not see her like this, when she wasn’t… when she wasn’t herself. 

Julie could not explain to anyone what had happened next, but all she remembered was willing a push. She didn’t know what parts of her were even pushing, not having much control over her bodily functions.

All she thought was wanting Alex out. Now. 

And then he was. 

The moment she had regained control was the moment Alex’s ghostly form tumbled out from the front of her, Reggie and Luke catching him before he fell. 

Just in time for her dad to have come around the corner, rushing to her aid, thinking she had gotten hurt from the bowl’s shattered pieces. 

The first thing she had done afterwards was take her free hand and drag it down her face, readjusting to having her body be hers again. 

Alex had apologized profusely about it, the other two boys had been too stunned to speak for the rest of the night, all three of them stared at her with such concern, worried that they had… they had crossed the line somehow. 

They wouldn’t talk about what happened. Julie mostly because of how weird the boys felt about it, Alex especially. 

Even though he got to enjoy his few minutes as a Lifer, it had taken a while for the ghost to even look at her in the eye. But she would reassure him that it was alright. It had been brief and she had been able to possess enough control to at least expel him from her when she wanted to. 

Having only been focused on the sensation of _sharing_ her body to even speculate more, 

it would take Julie weeks to even begin to wonder how she felt about the whole thing.

It had been unpleasant, but she didn’t think she would be too keen on trying it again. 

Until today. 

Julie settled into her seat for her Calculus class, her last class of the day.

And she had been having a relatively good day so far, and she was just buzzing with excitement, ready to go home and run through this really cool song she and the guys had been working on. 

The excitement quickly faded when her teacher, Mrs. Waters-Waters passed out packets to everyone in class- 

Shit. 

There was a test set for today. 

A test that Julie had totally forgotten to study for. 

Julie's vision was swimming in the sea of numbers (and letters? they didn't belong there! And what were these weird squiggly symbols?).

Frantically flipping through the pages, reorienting them in any and every formation under the sun but- nothing. This test might as well be written in a different language, but how could it? It was math. And like Mean Girls said, it's universal. 

Yet it didn't change the fact that she was not prepared for this test. Not one bit.

"Oh no. Oh no," 

"Julie, what is it?" Reggie's concerned voice preceded the ghost's sudden appearance at her desk, probably sensing her desperation. 

"I didn't- I didn't have time to study," she whispered, vast approaching panic. 

It was because she was not doing so hot in math right now.

After missing that one test because of the dance, and with the teacher being such a hardass who opted to let the students figure out the lesson instead of instructing them how to do it in the first place, Julie was barely scraping by with a passing grade.

"Oh no,"

Reggie was well aware of the situation at hand, having been the resident math whiz of the group and had countlessly tried to help her with her work. But to no avail… 

Julie's hands gripped at her hair, her breathing pattern changing, heartbeat pace quickening. And she did her best to appear calm in the midst of her teacher and classmates, but she was doomed. So doomed.

"Reggie," she hissed, "I screwed up. I screwed up- I'm not gonna pass this test. This would be the last straw. You know it-" 

"Julie, it's gonna be okay," he patted her on the shoulder, trying to quell her fears. 

"School first. You heard him. Dad's gonna make me quit the band-"

“Miss Molina,” her teacher called from the front of the room, “The test had already begun. No talking.” 

“Sorry,” she replied meekly, ducking her head. 

“Sorry” she repeated at a low volume, this time to the ghost next to her, “I’m so sorry Reggie, I let you guys down.” 

“No!” he declared, “You could never let us down, Julie. Even if you tried.” 

Julie couldn’t even manage a small smile at him, the gravity of the situation weighing on her soul.

“I’ll fail,” 

“No,”

“No?” 

The features of his pale face were fixed in a more serious expression now. An idea forming in his head. 

“No. You are not failing this test.” 

“Wha-?” 

Julie saw Reggie take a step back, rubbing his palms together, taking a deep breath, “Here goes nothing,” 

Her eyes widened, knowing what he was about to do. Her grip tightened around her pencil considerably. 

“I want to help, Julie… but only if you let me,” 

Julie didn’t know if it was because this time she would have a warning (and not just a warning, Reggie was asking, making sure she was okay with this before proceeding)-

Or if it was because the impending, earth shattering punishment that would soon befall on her if she didn’t do well on this test that scared her more- 

But she nodded. She was ready this time. 

The boy wore a tentative smile, to keep her at ease during this extremely personal process. 

“Reggie to the rescue!” 

Then he came charging at her with great speed, his form colliding into hers, and for a split second, Julie felt nothing. Then everything. And then nothing again. 

The next time she blinked open her eyes, she realized that was all she could do- watch. Watch as her hands move of their own accord- or were they?

“Cool,” she heard herself saying, caught between awestruck and inquisitive, if the way her hands kept flipping- palm side up then down, fingers trailing along her wrists, twisting the frayed ends of her bracelets was any indication. 

_-Reggie?_

_-Woah. Hi!_

_-You okay?_

_-Are you?_

Julie, unlike the first they had tried this, was okay. She was prepared. She knew what to expect. But it was just as surreal this time around: Watching her body move, taking a backseat, but still full away of the situation. 

But like before- she knew she was alright. She was in good hands. 

And besides, she ultimately had full control anyway. She could sense that here with Reggie too, having this power to boot him out if it got too much for her. But so far, so good. 

"Miss Molina," her teacher's eyes narrowed at her somewhat slumped over form at her desk "Are you alright?” 

Her mouth stretched, in some attempt to replicate Reggie’s signature megawatt smile. Straightening up, he had her nod at the woman. 

“Never better, Teacher-ooney” was the response that spilled out of her, triggering a few strange looks thrown in her direction, courtesy of her peers. 

If Julie could sink into her seat, she would, but Reggie, as Julie, sat up with pride, already working through the first page of problems with ease. 

- _Really?_

She spoke in her head, ignoring Reggie mentally working through the equations at remarkable speed.

Even when she could see how he input the numbers in the calculator, and could hear his reasoning, Julie could safely say that she was still a Calculus dunce. 

_-I don’t know her name,_ was his explanation. 

_-Fair enough._

_-How long’s the class?_

_-45 minutes._

_-I’ll have it done in 20. Can you hold on until then?_

_-Yeah._

Julie wasn’t sure how she was able to pass the time. Not even sure how she was able to be so… cool with this arrangement.

But Reggie was doing her a huge favor, and was rushing through the pages too, fearing that he wouldn’t be able to finish it before she couldn’t sustain this union anymore. 

But that was the thing, there wasn’t much to sustain. Once Reggie was in, there was nothing for her to do to keep him there, only exerting her mental energy to communicate with him or to kick him out. 

She was… just chilling. 

Turned out her daydreaming worked during this period. Which was great. She didn’t get bored. 

The downside was Reggie’s presence in her psyche. 

There was some work to be done, actually, in refining this connection it seemed. While she tried to get lost in her own world, there were some points where Reggie’s thoughts filtered through her fantasy. 

_My hair is so big now!_ She had heard him say a bunch of times in between processing differentials. 

Which was… kinda adorable. 

_-Aw. You think?_

Ah. Another downside: Reggie could hear her thoughts as well. 

_-Yeah. I can._ He cut through her inner monologue. _Also, you think about big, impromptu dance numbers a lot. Sick!_

Even her fantasies weren’t safe from whoever occupied her body…Great. 

- _Oh! I won’t tell! I promise!_

She mentally sighed. 

But that was the price Julie was willing to pay to get a decent math grade. 

Reggie concluded the test 20 minutes later on the dot. But she told him to stay in her seat, otherwise it would be suspicious to the teacher that Julie, out of all people, finished the test early. 

When it was time for him to leave, Julie was relieved to find that Reggie apparently could see his way out, already more successful than Alex had been the last time. No need for Julie to do anything. 

He practically zoomed out of her just as he had zoomed into her, the action mimicking a deep exhale leaving her body, something she had done once coming into herself. 

“That was crazy!” Reggie exclaimed, landing onto the floor with a thud only audible to her, “I was alive! Like for 20 minutes, I had a heartbeat and everything!” 

Remnants of Reggie’s excitement lingered inside her, and Julie wanted to smile, to laugh along with him, but that proved more difficult to do discreetly.

And for a second, Julie wished he was still inside her head for them to talk without suspicion. 

“Hey Julie?” 

She glanced up at him. 

His smile toned down, and he was playing with his hands, his stare darting between her and the floor. It was like he was working so hard to clamp down his earlier excitement… 

“I know how… personal this is for you, but…” 

He didn’t have to say anymore. 

Julie already knew. He had just been in her head. 

Reggie _liked_ it. 

He liked being able to possess her, to feel things, to be like a normal kid for once and not an out -of-place/out-of-time ghost.

She recognized that in Alex too, for him to be able to indulge in his favorite dessert (and without the whole lactose intolerant business too). 

Neither of them wanted to let Julie know just how much they had enjoyed it. But they both felt incredibly guilty afterwards, never intending for their ventures in the life of the living to be at the expense of Julie’s autonomy. 

Yet…

Julie… didn’t mind. 

It was a surreal thing. To be able to experience another entity with her, to be able to connect with them on a whole new level, where they were able to listen to each other’s thoughts, feel what they’re feeling. 

She had felt the boys’ joy, and it was infectious. 

It had been the most human thing she had ever experienced… something akin to how she felt whenever she performed, but the connection formed with the audience couldn’t compare to how it felt having the boys there with her. 

And the boys, they had all been through so much. For them to have this small pocket of time where they were able to experience some of the stuff they missed out on, Julie was warming up to the idea to maybe having the boys try this whole ‘possession’ thing out every once in a while. 

Besides, it was this new ghost ability. There was so much they didn’t know. It was something worth exploring. 

And she wasn’t saying this because she may need help in other classes (she had entertained the idea of Alex helping her out with chemistry or Luke helping her with book reports). 

But… maybe there were ways they could safely explore the extent of this new ability… 

She was willing to try. Better her than another Life, right? Or could they even possess other Lifers, ones that they couldn’t come into contact with like they do with her…

So much to think about. 

They would have to talk about this later. When she got home. 

Julie was able to mouth a ‘thank you’ at Reggie before he waved a goodbye, poofing out. 

And she was left to ponder, finally alone in her thoughts. 

It was more lonely than she remembered… 


	2. Chapter 2

Julie returned to the studio after school that day to silence. Usually she could hear the boys as she came up the driveway, either roughousing or trying (and failing) to play their instruments at a low volume. 

When she swung the doors open however, she was met by three ghosts, having abruptly risen to their feet upon her arrival, clearly whispering amongst themselves not too long ago. 

“Alright, alright,” she said, dropping her backpack by her keyboard bench, “Let’s get to the ghostly elephant in the room.”

The three shared a look, unspoken communication forged over the how many years they had known each other that Julie was still trying to decipher. It took an eye roll and a head shake from Luke to cease the wordless conversation. 

The guitarist stepped forward, hands tucked into his armpits, in an attempt to exude a calm front, “Reggie told us what happened in your Calculus class. Are you okay?”

She nodded, “I’m fine. All good.” 

“Julie-” 

“Really. I am,” she insisted, sensing Luke about to spew out some sort of declaration of worry. He did that alot, more than he probably could care to admit. 

Then she brushed past him, made a bee line for Reggie, and she brought him in for a hug, “Thank you. I owe you, like, everything.” 

The ghost chuckled, clapping her back and burying his nose into her shoulder, “It was just differentials. And the calculator did most of the work.” 

“Are you kidding?” she pulled away, regarding him in awe “You saved the band.” 

“ _ You _ saved us first,” 

Her face dropped slightly at the mention of the boys’ near- demise. She didn’t like to be reminded of that, even when the moment afterwards had been nothing short of amazing and beautiful. 

“Yeah…” was all she could respond with. 

Alex piped up from where he was standing, “Reg, like the whole…” the blonde made a vague hand gesture above his hand, “inner voice thing. Did that happen to you too?”

“Yes!” Reggie hopped up, understanding what their friend meant, “It was like telepathy!. Or ESP!” 

“It was like talking to yourself, right?”

“But we weren’t talking to ourselves,” then the bassist made a show of hands, presenting Julie, “We were talking to Julie!”

Luke ‘X’-ed his arms, diving into the fold now, “Ok. Time out. So what exactly happens when-” 

“We’re inside Julie?” 

“...please,  _ please _ rephrase that,” Alex grimaced, while Luke gave a good, hard slap to Reggie’s shoulder. 

Julie’s face felt hot at the wording, cueing for the boys, either Alex or Reggie to share their experience to the one ghost who had yet to experience possession. 

“You know when we phase through people, or people phase through us?” Alex started, to which Luke nodded, “It’s like that but-” 

“Not. It's almost like pieces getting locked together. By a magnet. Yeah, almost magnetic,” Reggie finished, his palms mimicking some sort of pulsing before clasping them together, the contact mirroring the sensation of having his and Julie’s forms fuse together. 

“Which is good, right? Because it’s easy to just” the drummer’s head cocked to the side, “kick us out.” 

Luke faced Julie, “You can do that?” 

“Yeah. I can do that. But I didn’t have to with Reggie. So you guys can leave too if you want. Something that you need to work on, Alex,” 

The tall blonde’s scoff turned into a splutter, “Work on? F-For what? Next time?” he quipped sarcastically. 

“Yeah. Exactly,” 

All three of them produced a noise of disbelief. 

“You’re cool with this happening again?” Reggie asked, brows raised high. 

Luke neared her and he almost reached for her hands but recoiled the last second. And Julie wondered if it was because he was afraid of accidentally taking her over. 

He cleared his throat, “Julie, was it ever scary?”

“Kinda rattled me a bit. The first time,” she reflected. The boy opened his mouth to speak but Julie kept going. 

“But it was because I was caught off guard,” she reassured, “When it’s happening? I dunno, it was like I was taking a backseat. I was still there. And aware, and I could see, hear, feel everything around me,” 

“But you have no control over your body. Do you?” 

Julie averted her eyes. 

That was all Luke needed before he was shaking his head and backing away, “Yeah no. This is off limits. Whatever  _ this _ is. There’s no way that any of that could be good for you.”

_ What? No.  _ That was unfair. She had hesitated because she couldn’t find the right words, to not have it sound as awful as what Luke was assuming, “But-”

“I agree with Luke,” Alex said, and Reggie nodded in agreement. 

She frowned at him, “Do you? Cuz I remember how much you loved eating that ice cream. Since it reminds you of kind you would get after you and your family go to church,” 

“How did you-?” Formerly stiffened at her previous sentence, the tension eased from his shoulders, remembering, “Oh.” he whispered. 

“Yeah, there’s a bit of a thought exchange while you’re in there too,” Reggie clarified for Luke, who looked like he did not like that idea one bit. 

And yeah, she understood. It was a lot. 

Julie continued to give her firsthand account. 

“And feelings. I could sense what you guys were feeling. And when you both… took over, you didn’t want to like it as much as you did. But you did,” She pointed to Alex and Reggie, “Come on. Admit it. More for yourselves because I already know.”

And for Luke, she didn’t say. The boy was staring pointedly at the two, as if anticipating betrayal. 

Alex sighed, “Look, if you had the chance to be alive for just one minute, you’d be just as stoked,” he said defensively. 

“It was insane, yeah. And being ghosts has been great. At least I’m with you guys, I have my music. But, Luke,” Reggie smiled, “I got to go to school today. I got to take a test. And I know that doesn’t sound so awesome, but I was sitting in a chair, in class, the teacher calling on me-” 

Alex gave a comforting pat on the boy’s shoulder, Reggie nodding at him then continuing. 

“I didn’t realize that I missed any of that mundane stuff until now…” 

“And  _ I _ got to eat. Which, needless to say, was pretty freakin’ great. Sorry. And if Julie had been the least bit weirded out about it, then I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much as I did,” Alex glanced at her for confirmation. 

She nodded. If she had been so repulsed by the whole thing, she would have pulled the plug on this and not encouraged it. 

Luke deflated at his friends’ testimonies. He understood, on some level what they were saying. But Julie could see he was still conflicted, his eyes kept drifting towards her. 

“Look, I’m just saying that if you guys ever want to try out the limits of this ghost power, then I’m okay with it. Under certain circumstances” she explained. 

Reggie dared to ask: “Like what?”

“Like if I go get In-N-Out with Flynn one day-” 

“Are you actually gonna let us possess you just to get Double Doubles?”

“If you’re up for it,”

Alex clutched at his hat, processing, and Luke’s jaw dropped. 

Reggie might just start tearing up from the way he was looking at her right now, “You saint!” 

“Or if you wanna come to school with me?” she also suggested. 

Everyone but Reggie scoffed at the idea. 

“I have dance class?”

The right corner of Alex’s lips quirked upwards, “Alright. I’m back in...”

Julie’s feet headed for Luke. She nudged him in the chest, “Come on, aren’t you the least bit curious on how it works? We could help each other.” She tried to appeal to this boy’s curiosity, hopefully to win him over on the idea. 

Why was she trying so hard to sell the whole possession schtick to Luke anyway? Yes, she didn’t mind the possession, but it finally dawned on her what having Luke inside her body and mind could entail. 

Oh dear. Was she going to regret this? But she was kind of banking on Luke still being not too keen on the concept. There wasn’t an indication anywhere on his face that suggested he would utilize this newfound ghost skill anytime soon. But at Julie’s touch, he softened even more. 

“We’re not gonna make a habit of this, Julie,” he said finally, “And if… if it helps you. Like how it helped you today. Then yeah…maybe. As long as you’re ok.” 

“As long as we set up some ground rules. I think we’ll be ok,” 

They were all curious, “Like what?” 

“I mean, ask first,” 

“Of course,” nodded Alex. 

“And not for too long,”

Julie, in her own sick sense of curiosity, would want to see just how far into the day she could go while being possessed, but she didn’t want to accidentally lock herself away or something. Safest bet was to not let it go for more than an hour. 

“And whatever happens in there,” she tapped her cranium, “stays in there.” 

There was going to be a lot of sharing in her mind, stuff that might not be what either one of them wanted to know about. There needed to be a sense of trust, otherwise this wouldn’t work. Or else this wouldn’t be fun for both parties involved. 

Her talking about Alex’s thoughts during the ice cream incident was a one off. From now on, she wouldn’t share such things aloud. And she trusted the boys to do the same for her. 

“And...if my body has to go to the bathroom-” 

“Woah-!”

The room erupted into various shouts cutting her off, the boys fidgeting and refusing to look at her. 

“Yup. No need to,” Luke coughed, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, “to explain...” 

“Just be respectful,” 

They nodded quickly, and she couldn’t help but laugh at their queasy expressions.

Well, she hoped she didn’t scare them off with that last one, but hey- she needed to establish these boundaries just in case. 

Julie skipped over to her keys, beckoning the boys, “C’mon. Let’s run through that new song.” 

* * *

They made it another couple weeks without possession. 

Julie thought by airing out concerns and creating some ground rules would encourage the boys to reach out and try again. But it seemed like they were more tentative about asking than before. 

Then again, she had been simply waiting around for one of them to work up the courage to ask if they could pop in her body and take it out for a spin. 

That… didn’t sound right. 

Thank god no one had been in her head to hear that rather awful phrase applied to her own  _ body _ . She wasn’t some vehicle for the guys to commandeer. She was a person.

A person who wanted to help her friends. 

Speaking of friends, she had told Flynn all about the arrangement, and as expected, her bestie was concerned. 

“You’re trusting three teenage boys with your body?” 

They had been in the cafeteria when she spoke those words, and Julie had clamped her mouth shut, exhaling deeply because Flynn was being… Flynn. 

Luckily, no one was in the immediate vicinity, otherwise she would have straight up murdered Flynn. 

The playful jab had been the only instance of amusement coming from Flynn. Yet the rest of the lunch period had been spent lecturing Julie in all of the ways that this could go wrong. 

It mostly stemmed from the fear of talking to the body of her best friend, only to find a different person having completely taken over her and with no chance of getting her back. Flynn was already pulling up listings for exorcists in the area. As a precaution. 

“At least, let me know when you’re gonna do that. Or tell the boys to tell me when it’s… not you,” 

“You’re my best friend, you’ll be the first to know it’s not me,” she reminded. 

“Yeah, you’re right. I am the Julie detector,” she grinned to herself, “Maybe I’ll make it a little game. To guess who’s who.” 

“Yeah. ‘Guess the Ghost’. Keep a tally,” Carlos would love to play that game too. 

Maybe she could let Carlos know, since he was now aware of the boys’ existence. But knowing him, he would beg one of them to possess him. She’d rather be the test subject for right now before letting  _ that  _ happen. 

“I’ll be able to spot them from a mile away,” Then her best friend tossed her a teasing look, “I bet I could tell when it’s a certain guitarist’s turn to captain the S.S Julie,” 

“Oh my god,” Julie might just be a tomato at this point. 

“Has he done it yet?” 

She had shook her head, “Actually no,” 

In fact, Luke had been distant lately. 

It was obviously attributed to the possession talk. They would talk, rehearse, and write, but there was a lack of contact, which was uncharacteristic of him.

Even before being able to touch, Julie already knew that he was quite tactile in showing his affection for his friends- always draping an arm around Reggie, or being quick to hold Alex’s hand to calm him down. 

And with her… he had used to do all of those things with her, and also the hug she was immediately greeted with whenever coming home from school or whenever they nailed a particularly difficult riff for a song. 

It might as well be like how it was before her magical hug. 

But it was something else- now being able to touch, but him now choosing not to. 

It hurt, if Julie could be quite honest with herself. 

“Do you… want him to?” Flynn wondered, “Because from what you told me, if he does possess you, there won’t be anything stopping him from knowing.” 

“Knowing what?” 

Her best friend rolled her eyes, “Wow, Jules. Really?"

Yeah… that was probably the one concern she had about the possibility of Luke possessing her. He would be able to look into her thoughts,  _ hear  _ her thoughts. There would be no privacy, and he could so easily stumble upon something that she would not want for him to know…

The thought of either Alex or Reggie possessing her wasn’t as daunting. 

Maybe it was because her relationship with them was… different than the one she had with Luke. 

_ An interesting little relationship indeed…  _

The ringing of the bell had put a pin on that conversation and it took awhile for the whole possessing situation to make its rounds in her subconscious before it became at the very forefront of her mind. 

She had an emergency on her hands. 

She had been home for precisely 10 minutes when she received the call from Carlos’ school on the landline. 

Apparently her brother, her sweet but hyper brother, had gotten into some sort of incident- something about tripping on his shoelaces on his hurry out the door? 

Now he had a sprained ankle and was in no condition to ride his bike home from school. 

And she was in a bit of bind. 

The school had already called her dad, but for some reason he wasn’t able to pick up. Then they had tried Tia Victoria, but she was out of town, so it was up to Julie to head over and pick him up. 

But the school was ways away. Too far for her to walk. Too far for a hobbled Carlos to walk too. And bring his bike. 

Julie held the keys to the car tightly in her hand, mentally drilling a hole into the vehicle while she was summoning the courage to unlock it and go in. 

The boys emerged from the studio, again, probably drawn to her because she was in trouble. Well, not really in trouble. But she wasn’t exactly relaxed at the moment. 

She informed them of the situation, and they soon shared her worry, all of them protective over her little brother as much as she was. 

“So you’re gonna go get him?” 

“Yeah,” she squeaked. 

“...well?” Reggie was confused, rapping his fist against the driver’s window, “Aren’t ya gonna get in?”

“Um yeah… about that-” 

Alex studied her hesitance, “You  _ do _ know how to drive, right?” 

“I do!” 

None of the ghosts appeared to be convinced. 

“Fine!” she threw her hands up, exasperated. She fished a folded up piece of paper from her back jean pocket, “I only have a permit. My dad’s only given me like a month's worth of lessons, and I’m- I’m just not ready.” 

“Can’t you call a cab or something?” Luke threw out there, “You don’t have to go on the road if you’re not ready.”

_ Remind yourself to tell them about Uber later…  _ Julie mused. 

“No, I can’t. No card. And I need to get his bike too,” 

Checking the time on her phone, Julie berated herself for not having the guts to just get in the car and do what her dad had taught her. She had driven to Carlos’ school before, but not unaccompanied. 

Carlos wasn’t in terrible shape, but Julie couldn’t stomach this sense of urgency rising inside her. Chances were, Carlos was waiting for her in a dreary, sterile, nurse’s office- a similar environment to a hospital room? 

Like the one their mom had spent the last weeks of her life in. 

She knew Carlos had an aversion to hospitals, doctors, and anything of that sort since then. And she couldn’t bear to leave him there longer than she had to. 

Julie wasn’t supposed to drive by herself with just a permit, but screw the law. she needed to get her brother. 

She turned around, “Which one of you guys know how to drive?” 

Heads shifted, all directing to Luke. The boy sighed and raised his hand. 

“You know how to drive?”

“Alex does too!” Luke deflected, “He also got his license.”

“Yeah, but you know how much I hate driving!”

Julie was now in front of Luke, “Please? Help me?” 

“Do you want me to coach you through it? Sit in the passenger seat?”

“No,” her hands found his, gripping on tight, “I want you… to  _ help _ me.” 

“Oh,” he said, realizing what she was asking him to do. 

“Please?” 

When making the rules, Julie had never accounted for her being the one to ask. She had assumed it all was coming from the boys. But Luke was the one most reluctant to inhabit her body, and she needed his permission. 

She didn’t care if it was going to be really personal or embarrassing, having Luke there to assist her would be what she needed. To have his confidence and experience, Julie knew she could be safe with him. 

Luke’s eyes met hers and slowly but surely he nodded. 

The words  _ ‘Anything, Julie. You know that _ ’ called back to her, and she felt grateful that Luke, despite his feelings towards possession, was willing to go through with it to help her. 

“Let’s do this,” 

“Ok,”

“You’ll let me know if… if you’re not comfortable with any of it,” 

“Preferably at a red light,” Reggie chimed in helpfully. 

She nodded. 

He took a deep breath ( or something like that considering he was dead) and dropped their hands. 

Julie expected him to go backwards, putting some distance before he was set to run at her like Reggie or Alex had. 

Instead, he approached her steadily, his hazel eyes flashing in warning, giving her enough time to back out if she wanted it. When she made no move to veer out of the way, Luke’s arms were wide open, before he wrapped them around Julie, fully embracing her. 

Julie didn’t have time to relish in the first hug Luke Patterson had given her in weeks, because she felt that familiar tugging deep in her gut. The magnetic pull.

Then darkness. 

She opened her eyes. 

The weight of Luke’s arms around her was no more. 

Her hands flipped-flopped before her eyes, a typical first time reaction she came to find out. 

The movements were slow, different from the manic jittery speed from the others. Her fingers were traveling up her forearm, then to her hair, twisting a strand, before landing on her face. 

Reverence was the word that came to mind, yet she couldn’t exactly explain why. 

The pads of her fingers danced around the contours of her face, grazing her cheeks, her chin, meticulously but gently exploring every feature. 

They brushed against her lips for a brief second, and they jerked away. 

A slight heat fell on her cheeks and her mouth twitched, and it had just now come to Julie’s attention, that she had been sporting a small smile up until that point. 

Alex and Reggie spectated from the driveway, bright expressions unclear to Julie, but she was now filled with the urge to… 

_ Give them a noogie? _

Mostly stemming from annoyance. 

She wanted to tell them to shut up. From what? She wasn’t quite sure. 

But that wasn’t coming from her. 

- _ Luke? _

She spoke internally, waiting for a response. 

_ -Yeah…  _ his voice came through- 

If Julie could smile she would have. 

_ -I’m here, Jules. I got you.  _


	3. Chapter 3

Hearing Luke’s voice inside her head was soothing, yet the rest of her was buzzing- a residue of his body language bleeding through. 

She could feel the moment Luke settled into her body, already putting his own spin into the way she would normally carry herself. The breathing came easier, and he was twirling the key loop around her index finger, a surge of confidence struck her form. 

His boyish grin must look so odd on her face, but that really wasn’t the oddest thing about the situation. She could think of one or two. 

_ Julie… you’re okay in there?  _ She could hear him ask, the concern still very much there. 

_ -All good.  _

_ -Are you sure? _

_ -I think you’d know if I’m not…  _

“Well, boys,” her voice said, mimicking his pseudo-Brooklyn accent. He unlocked the car, “I think we should be going now-” 

“Wait!”

Reggie’s hands were up, stalling them. 

“What?”

“So? How does it feel?” The bassist’s tone was brimmed with enthusiasm. Alex appeared curious too. Luke was the last one to inhabit her but the first to do it on purpose, and in front of everyone no less. 

But if they were waiting for some new information, Julie felt her shoulders shrug, accompanied by a succinct reply. 

“It’s okay,”

_ -Not at all like wearing human skin... _

Julie cringed,  _ Creepy, much? _

“Yikes. Sorry,” Luke replied aloud, her head turned to the right as if Julie was beside him and not stuck inside her own head. 

He caught his mistake, wincing,  _ This could take some getting used to _ . 

“Ah, did he say something messed up?” Alex teased. 

Luke shook her head, “What? No!” 

_ Liar _ , she had to sing-song. 

Luke chose to ignore her. 

“Well you’re making that face,” Alex surmised, inspecting them closely, “Not Julie’s ‘face’ but like… it’s like Luke’s ‘face’.”

“But on Julie’s face!” Reggie pointed out. 

_ -I don’t have a face!  _

_ -Trust me. You do.  _

Julie could imagine it now, even if she couldn’t see it. She would know that cute little nose scrunch anywhere. 

_ … _

_ Cute? _

Oh my god. 

_ You weren’t- you weren’t supposed to-  _ she stammered. 

_ -Sorry! I’m still getting the hang of everything! _

Right, she couldn’t hide from Luke. Not even in her own mind. 

Her body wasn’t hers anymore. 

And even so, her cheeks were still warm.

_ -Just... just leave me to die- _

_ -I-I didn’t mean to embarrass you.  _

_ -It’s fine. Totally fine.  _ (It so wasn't)

_ -Julie... _

“He did it again,” The drummer laughed, noticing the blush, “Didn’t he?”

“Guys!” Luke tapped her foot against the concrete at a much faster tempo, growing impatient. 

But Reggie was still hung up on the subject, “That's, like, so cool. Like, you’re both Julie and Luke… at the same time. Like I could totally tell it’s Luke in there with you!” 

“Huh. Did I still seem like me when  _ I _ was ‘occupying’ Julie?” Alex posed the question. 

_ Well, the wheezing was very Alex…  _ Luke recalled, although he didn’t share. 

Julie agreed. 

“Ooh!” Reggie snapped his fingers, “What if we have code names? For our ‘Julie’ team ups?”

“Why?” Everyone else seemed to ask. 

“In case we need to talk about it in public,” 

Alex shook his head at his friend, “No, I just think you want an excuse to give us silly names-” 

“From now on, when I’m with Julie, you will refer to us, as a unit,  _ ‘Rulie’ _ !” 

_ That sounds like a street name for something… _

Luke snorted,  _ Easily could have been Rules. _

_ Totally.  _

“Alex and Julie will be  _ ‘Merlina’ _ . Mashing your last names is easier. I was actually gonna name my horse that if it ended up being a girl,” 

Julie was… learning so much about Reggie at this very moment. More than when he had been in her body, oddly enough.

_ (Aw. What ever happened to Merlin…?  _ was Luke’s main takeaway.)

“And that would make you guys...” he shot them finger guns, “ _ ‘Juke’ _ .’”

Juke?

Julie found the name ridiculous, but didn’t have the heart to tell Reggie that. (Well  _ she  _ couldn’t, not when Luke’s her mouthpiece at the moment). 

But, wow. 

Juke. 

Huh, it sorta sounded like a ship name now that she thought about it. 

_ A ship name? _

Luke’s voice rang loud in her brain, and she short circuited at the question. 

Dammit. She shouldn’t have thought about it. 

_ -Uh, well- _

_ -What’s that? _

_ -You don’t- you don’t need to know.  _

_ -Why? Is it bad or-? _

He stopped mid-sentence. 

_ Oh.  _

Luke apparently got his answer. 

Oh Julie, you idiot, she berated herself, He’s in your mind! Of course he’ll eventually find out what a ‘ship’ is! 

But how did that even work? 

Did he have to pick through her brain for it? Or was the information already there, on the surface? She wished there was a rule book or something or-

_ -Hey Jules? _

She braced herself. 

_ -...yeah? _

_ -You’re not an idiot.  _

_ -... _

_ -... _

_ -... thanks, Luke.  _

_ -The offer still stands, you know? _

Of course. She could kick him out if this became overwhelming. It currently wasn’t. But, embarrassing? Unfortunately that wasn’t acceptable grounds for ending this possession. They did have an important errand to run, so she still needed his guidance. 

And since he had been listening in on her thoughts, Luke flung open the car door and dropped into the drivers’ seat. 

“Right. Gotta get going. We’ll see you guys, when we get back,”

Oh yeah, Luke was also eager to get out of there. He too wanted to be spared of any further embarrassment. 

Her hand gave a final wave before Julie, with such dexterity that she never once had during all her practice sessions, turned the key in the ignition and smoothly backed the car out of the driveway and onto the street. 

Both Reggie and Alex ran down after them, sending them off and making faces from what she and Luke could see in the rearview mirror. 

“Bye, Juke!” was the last thing they heard pulling onto the next street. 

_ -These idiots...  _

- _Seconded._

* * *

  
  


The ride to Carlos’ school was awkward. 

After fumbling with the stereo and a string of curses that sounded so foreign on Julie’s tongue, Luke switched the music on, blaring Ariana Grande’s voice that sent the whole car, and her head, booming.

Which seemed to be his intention. 

Scratch that- it definitely was. 

Earlier, with her brain ratting her out and dropping knowledge on Luke, the kind of knowledge that would have sent her running and hiding her ever rosy cheeks, Julie momentarily forgot that  _ this _ wasn’t one sided. 

This connection was a two way streak. 

That meant if Julie was susceptible to having her thoughts read, then Luke was too. So she didn’t have to guess why he nearly broke the knob turning the music up to full blast. 

Which was creative. 

But totally useless. 

Did he not… did he not realize that thoughts couldn’t be muffled out by anything? Not even loud music?

_ -... well I know that now _

She would shake her head at him if she still had a head to shake. 

_ Have something to hide, Luke? _ , she teased. 

Her own voice answered, “No.” 

_ Yes _ , his real voice betrayed him. 

Cue another round of expletives. 

“We all have stuff to hide, Jules…” he tried again. 

_ -You know… you can trust me, right? _

Her body sighed, “I do. I do trust you.”

_ -Whatever you say in here is safe with me _

_. _

_. _

_. _

_ -That’s the problem.  _

Julie was confused,  _ Huh? _

Her eyebrows creased, a deep self-deprecating scowl marred her face, “Dammit! How do I-? Turn this off?”

_ -What off? Your brain? _

“My thoughts!” 

_ -Luke you can’t! _

“I feel weird about you listening in on my thoughts”

_ -You could leave if you’re not comfortable- _

“No, I’m taking you to Carlos,” 

_ -Well what are you gonna do huh?  _

Until they figured out how to control this, they had no choice but to listen to each other, unfiltered. 

She got it. This was Luke, who had always been a free spirit, no pun intended. She could see why such this union would put him off- it required total surrender. 

From first meeting him, yeah, he seemed like an open person, but he really was no stranger to keeping things hidden, like his past and the stuff with his mom. 

So this could take some getting used to, but if she was subjected to having her embarrassing thoughts read, then he should be too. And if he was hellbent on staying until Carlos was back home, then they had to deal with it. 

_ -Wanna bet? _

Then, all of the sudden, her body reacted fully, she was breaking out into a sweat, her mouth was cursing again, basically shifting into ‘shame’ mode. Her hands were steady at the wheel thankfully, some semblance of calm-

When inside her head was anything but. 

Before Julie could ask what clammed Luke up, she was met with- 

_ -’TAKE OFF… LAST STOP’-  _

Singing. 

Loud Singing. Borderline screaming. 

_ -Luke, what are you-? _

_ -’COUNTDOWN TIL WE BLAST OPEN THE TOP… FACE FIRST...FULL CHARGE’ _

_ -Why are you doing this-? _

_ -’ELECTRIC HAMMER TO THE HEART!’ _

Oh my god. 

Was he actually-?

Drowning out his thoughts…. 

With _songs?_

Just so she couldn’t hear what he was thinking?

- _ Luke! _

_ -SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY… STRETCHING AROUND THE BEND… THIS LONG WEEKEND-! _

_ -I… I really don’t know how to react to this-  _

_ -’IN YOUR STARLIGHT.... NEVER OUT OF SIGHT…THE DARK BRINGS THE SUN-’ _

_ -Going through your demo? Really? _

She could not believe this boy. 

But she really couldn’t stop him. If this was his way of… coping with the changes, then might as well. 

Not like she minded anyway...

It was a whole different experience… listening to him sing in her head. It could only be described as if her subconscious was an echo chamber, or an empty arena. If it was just Luke up there on stage and she was the only one in the audience. 

It was like a show. Playing just for her. 

The idea made her heart swell. 

_ ’Made my heart stop’  _ Luke’s inner voice crooned, ‘ _ …I couldn’t believe it…’  _

Well  _ that _ was a huge tonal shift. 

He was no longer belting out the notes, which was a nice change. It most likely was brought on by her proceeding thought, about the ‘heart’. 

But wait- 

She didn’t recognize this one. Definitely not from the Sunset Curve CD, not with how carefully Luke was singing it. 

And she couldn’t place the lyrics, and she had read his journal. His writing practically ingrained at her brain at this point- and Luke could check. 

_ -‘I find myself… at the mercy… of this bonafide… wicked beauty...’ _

_. _

_. _

_. _

_ -...Wicked beauty? _

Her body froze. 

“Patterson, you goon!” he berated himself in her voice, slamming the steering wheel. 

_ -It sounds nice, Luke.  _

_ -You didn’t hear that! _

_ -Uh, yes I did. _

_ -Please tell me you didn’t.  _

_ -Why are you so embarrassed? It’s pretty solid- _

“Oh look, we’re here!” 

Julie thought Luke was evading the subject, but no, they were actually pulling up into Carlos’ school right now. She could see her brother, sitting outside with the school nurse, waiting for them, his bike resting against the bench. 

Luke, as Julie, swiftly exited the vehicle, thanked the nurse and hooked up the bike to the rack behind the car. He then helped Carlos into the passenger seat, minding the ice pack on his ankle, and they were out of pick up no less than 2 minutes later. 

“Hey, Carlos,” Luke greeted for her, “How you holdin’ u-?” 

“Who are you and what have you done to my sister?” 

_ -What?! _

Oh how the brake pedal slammed so fast, stalling them on the road and giving everyone in the car whiplash. Fortunately the road was empty except for them, and they had conveniently reached a STOP sign. 

“How did you know I’m not Julie?!” 

Carlos furrowed his eyebrows, “Wait, what?”

“It’s me, Luke!” 

_ “Luke?”  _ The kid’s eyes widened. 

“Yes!” 

Her eyes observed Carlos’ face, wondering about the complete 180 in Carlos’ reaction. And since Julie could read her brother like a goddamn book, she realized their mistake soon enough. 

_ -Oh my god, Luke.  _

_ -What? _

_ -He was trying to make a joke.  _

_ -Huh? _

_ -He didn’t actually know! _

_ -OH! _

“I said that because you’ve always been so scared to drive and wouldn’t step foot in the driver’s seat if dad wasn’t here too. Like it couldn’t be you here, right now, driving” Carlos leaned forward, studying her face, “But seriously,  _ are you actually possessed?!” _

“Yes. She is,” 

“That’s so cool!” he exclaimed, then winced in pain when he moved his foot, “Okay, so you’re Luke, huh?” 

Luke nodded her head. 

“Prove it,” 

“What?” 

Her brother crossed her arms, “Just so I know you’re not trying to mess with me, Julie.” 

_ Would you mess with him? _ , Luke asked her, mentally. 

_ -You’re such an only child, I swear to God- _

“You called us ‘boy band’,” Luke tossed out, “In the studio. Before the Orpheum. Which I  _ hate _ by the way.” 

“Hmm…” Carlos poked her shoulder, as if that were to prove anything, “It checks out.” 

“Good. So can we go home now?” Luke asked, now moving the car down the street as originally planned. 

“Sure. But I have tons of questions. First-” 

“No,” 

“You didn’t know what I was going to say,” 

“Julie told me you’d ask if you could have a turn,” 

“Aw man. My sister’s always ruining the fun,” 

_ Hey! _

Luke tsked, “She didn’t like that, Carlos.” 

“Not like she could do anything about it” And Julie felt a couple knocks against her temple, “She’s in there, right?” 

_ And I could come back out, if you test me again- _

“Listen, if you don’t want Julie to regain control  _ while _ I’m driving, then I suggest you sit down and be quiet until we get back. Got it?” 

Oh yeah, that definitely did it. Carlos buckled up his seatbelt, watching her body cautiously, and gave no lip for the rest of the ride. 

The return trip was much easier to manage, mostly because she and Luke were mentally talking through how to go about explaining to Carlos how possession worked. No randomly breaking out into songs or painful exchange of awkward words. 

Just them talking. 

And it would happen so fast too, their ideas bouncing off each other the second they thought of it. 

By the time they returned to the Molina house, Julie and Luke had come up with their best course of action, along with at least 5 different contingencies based on how well he would react. 

They parked on the driveway, and Luke had her body stepping out of the car, “Just wait right here.” her voice called back to Carlos, who only scooched forward, excited to witness what was to happen next. 

Julie didn’t have to push, Luke’s essence left her body by his own volition, emerging from her front, while her spine arched and her limbs shook as she regained control. 

“Woah!” Carlos remarked, “You’re standing different now. You’re Julie again?” 

She felt her face, shoulders, and her hips. She nodded, “Yeah. I am.” 

Luke stood off to the side, doing that neck scratching tick he would do, “Hey,” 

“That was-” she started. 

“-something.” he finished, eerily like how Julie thought to. 

“I’m just gonna go and help Carlos into the house,” 

“For sure,” 

Julie ran to the passenger side and draped her brother’s arm over her shoulder, hers supporting his waist, and together they hobbled towards the front of the house. 

Carlos skidded them to a stop, and he turned around to where he assumed Luke was, “Thanks for driving us!” 

Luke smiled and waved, not caring that he couldn’t see him do it. 

“Thank you,” Julie repeated. 

She swore his smile grew a little before she pivoted her and Carlos around to head inside. 

“Are you sure I can’t try it?” her brother, once again, referring to possession. 

Julie shook her head, opening the door and setting him down on the couch. 

“Might wanna try walking first…” and then she lightly tapped his sneakers, laces still undone, “Or tying your shoes.” 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Carlos’ upper body collapsed onto the couch, “You just want to keep Luke to yourself, right?” he smirked. 

Julie smacked him upside the head. 

_ “Ow!”  _

“Payback for earlier,” 

“I’m crippled!” 

“Too bad,” Julie walked away, “Do you want a sandwich?” 

“Yes, please,”

God, Julie thought and thought alone- 

She was absolutely done with dealing with boys today.


End file.
